


Evidence to the Contrary

by DemyxTheMenace



Series: The Cordial Courier [2]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Arcade is logical, Courier is emotional, ED-E is Courier's best friend, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Old World Blues set up, The rest of the gang are sick of their shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 20:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemyxTheMenace/pseuds/DemyxTheMenace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Aaron knows, logically, that ED-E can't speak, knows he can't feel or think or do anything his basic AI coding doesn't allow. He knows he is also a sentimental man and, logic aside, he knows ED-E can do all of these things because, well, evidence defies logic. Actions speak louder than words, if you will."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Evidence to the Contrary

**Author's Note:**

> This is part II of my Cordial Courier 'verse. For part one click on the link at the end or in the description above. Follow me on tumblr if you'd like, I occasionally post there first. I'm hemindem . tumblr . com. Thanks for sticking with me so far and I'm sorry for the resulting pheels in this one.

Aaron know's, logically, that ED-E can't speak, knows he can't feel or think or do anything his basic AI coding doesn't allow. He knows he is also a sentimental man and, logic aside, he knows ED-E can do all of these things because, well, evidence defies logic. Actions speak louder than words, if you will.

Aaron has character flaws, a whole myriad of them with colorful psych names and an even more colorful description of each and how they affect him as a person. Even though he is the poster boy for perfection in the eyes of his fellow Wastelanders, he is, in fact, human and therefore is in no way shape or form a perfect person. He's optimistic to a fault, and creates these fanciful notions in his head about people and creatures to deal with all the terrible things he encounters daily. He's a hopeless romantic in a time he can't afford to show any weakness. He's on an almost canine-level of loyalty and his moral compass points so far North he could circle the globe.

Even with evidence that no, ED-E is no more than a floating heap of scrap, Aaron just cannot see the eyebot as anything less than a friend, and a trusted one at that. Veronica and (occasionally) Arcade fight him on the subject, but how can anyone question ED-E's emotional state (or lack of) when he practically soars to greet Aaron every time he comes back from a mission or even a trip to pick up more booze with Cass; ED-E bobs up and down so quickly he nearly vibrates, releasing a high stream of chittering beeps, excited noises lacing the robotic tones. Or when he lets off a warning shot of red-hot laser at Raul's feet every time the ghoul even remotely mentions how well he could do to repair their equipment with just a few of ED-E's parts.

Veronica usually gives him an intellectually disappointed sigh and vows grouchily that the argument isn't over. Arcade isn't as forgiving, if only because of his past associations with the Enclave or that he simply does not trust ED-E. (Aaron sometimes flatters himself with thoughts of Arcade's motive being relative to how much he and ED-E are connected at the hip/plate armor and the doctor's desire to keep the courier safe, but he 's pretty sure it's a more logically and selfishly based process of thought.) Even when Aaron had allowed Ralph to tinker and poke through the eyebot's code for bugs Aaron's amateur hacking skills probably missed while running monthly diagnostic checks (and found nothing other than the previous logs of data Aaron had already known was there) Arcade still hadn't wanted anything to do with the pair of them. He had also been told that there was a line of code that stated the purpose for ED-E being on and running had something to do with him, but he couldn't understand the technical jargon spewed in between confused looks Ralph gave ED-E's open panels and wires, but he keeps that one to himself for fear that Arcade might really try to blow his friend up and throw him into Lake Mead.

Maybe Arcade had carried this fear because ED-E is an unknown variable or the ever-present danger that the Enclave chapters out East would track their lost eyebot right to him, Aaron doesn't know. He hopes it's because Arcade doesn't want any harm to come to Courier & Co. but understands if it's more general Wasteland safety concern, or even purely selfish. Aaron, however, is no longer afraid of most things, only things he doesn't know how to protect people from, and calls Arcade irrational, blind, and in one extreme case, cowardly. He feels like his insides have been ripped open by the deadly swing of a Deathclaw as soon as the words leave his mouth and definitely doesn't miss the minute flinch he gets in response. He spends a month after that begging Arcade for forgiveness, pleading with him to return to the Lucky 38 and just let him _explain_ , apologizing profusely every third word. Arcade eventually does come back, heavily admitting that he probably would have lashed out too if he'd been told his friend wasn't really his friend after all, and not even a real being in the first place, essentially being stupid for believing something he couldn't and didn't want to deny as fact.

The make-up sex is great, and the whole experience brings the two closer together and on a certain wave-length that they both understand the other's limits and lines and respects them. Arcade still does not like ED-E, but (to Aaron's great pleasure) also does not refute his friendship with Aaron. There are some times, however, when Arcade needs a break, when he just can't deal with Aaron's complete trust in "a piece of metal that could turn on you any second with the press of a key." And so he leaves. He camps up with the Followers, back to his little apartment-tent down in Freeside. And Aaron gets cranky. He snaps at his friends, makes terrible food because he's distracted (so Veronica takes over dinner duties when he gets in a "mood" as they call it), and get's kicked out of the casino because of it.

But despite their problems, Aaron knows Arcade is doing it because he cares. Because in the long run, Arcade wants to be with Aaron, and is okay with everything against his own opinions, as long as he can take a day or two to sort out his own problems, respects Aaron's decisions enough to be able to come back, albeit without much joy for Aaron's other allegiances.

It's during one of Arcade's self-imposed exiles that Aaron is sent out by Cass less than 2 hours after his and Arcade's lingering goodbye kiss to fetch more liquor. He's locked out of the elevator on the way back, he and ED-E hauling two crates worth of Whiskey and Vodka, Wine and Beer. Cass, Raul, Veronica and (surprisingly) Boone send note with Lily, who comes to retrieve the alcohol, that Aaron is barred from the suite while Arcade is gone for the sake of their sanity, and is told to hurry his ass over to McCarran because the guy on the NCR radio sounded urgent.

Aaron, hard pressed to argue, loads the crates into the elevator with Lily who hugs him and assures him that she'll make sure none of her grandson's friends are hurt, and leaves for the Camp McCarran. He and ED-E make it by nightfall, the eyebot having to poke and prod him through Freeside to keep him from entering the Old Mormon Fort to see Arcade again. He reports to Col. Hsu to ask what the urgent call was about and is told he'll get the full briefing when he's rested and ready to travel. Aaron internally writhes at that; going on missions knowing he won't be the first to greet Arcade when he gets back makes him irrationally jealous and more than a little irritated. He always wants to be the first everything when it comes to Arcade, and more preferably the only, but he knows that his companions have forged a sort of friendship between them and that Arcade does actually enjoy their company's presence as well as his.

Resigned to his long trek and at least another month of not seeing his favorite doctor, he and ED-E take up an emptied tent in the outside lot and power down to crash. Aaron makes sure he sends a soldier with an audio log to his gang and one specifically for Arcade detailing his mission and how long he expects to be gone. He takes into account his journey from the Happy Trails caravan expedition gone wrong and tries to give his best guestimate, but finding this crashed satellite, mapping it on his pip-boy, and making sure it isn't armed might take longer than he wants. The trip itself is probably a week long in the first place, then he has to gather all the appropriate data, and then another week and a half to take the data to McCarran, debrief, and then go home. He's set up for 3 and a half weeks tops, just to over-guess and assure the gang he'll be back sooner rather than later. With the thought of a long walk and lots of time to think, he falls asleep, though admittedly slowly.

*****

Throughout their trip, Aaron tells ED-E all about how he thinks he should just kidnap Arcade and trap him in their bedroom for a week and kick everyone out of the suite so they can talk and just be together. He leaves out all the sexcapade details he knows would happen were that to go down for the simple fact that ED-E is sort of like a nephew to him; too distant to be a son, too close to be anything less. He cares for the bot immensely and he can feel the easy camaraderie in the way ED-E bumps his shoulder a few times when Aaron feels himself frown. They're 6 days into their trip when they pass the Mojave Outpost, having only walked a few hours a day to stay out of the harsh Mojave sun. It doesn't stop Aaron's skin from darkening to a golden hue, nor does it keep the sand out of ED-E's servos. But it does leave more time for Aaron to keep maintenance on the two of them and accept ED-E's proffered help in carrying the food and weapons the courier had thought to bring in case they picked up anyone else on their journey, or if anyone wanted to trade.

His first hint something is wrong is that his Pip-Boy automatically picks up a distress signal back at Goodsprings, briefly explaining that the Legion caught on that they'd helped him and were going out of their way to burn the town down. Aaron guesses they think he has more of an attachment to Goodsprings than he actually does, but he can't just sit back and leave the threat of an entire town gone because of him. He and ED-E double back long enough to deal with the 7 or so assassins who had taken the townsfolk and were leading them into the middle of town as hostages. He orders ED-E take up a snipers point along the cliff side West of the town, letting himself bait the idiots into a false sense of security when he drops his guns and his Displacer Glove. Don't they know he's a hand-to-hand combat specialist? He supposes if they'd known, that would have suggested survivors to his prior attacks on the Legion, which he tries to avoid when Caesar is involved. ED-E takes a few of the weaker ones who think hiding behind hostages is going to stop him when there's a sniper behind them, now with a clear view. Mostly, Aaron's too pumped full of adrenaline and long-harbored grief and loneliness because he misses his friends and hates that because he isn't technically part of he NCR he can do what their laws restrict them from doing. Like taking a look at this stupid satellite, and saving a town he supposes has some sentimental memories because it was where he became a new person, where he became the courier people liked, instead of the one everyone saw but never remembered or bothered to know.

He comes out of the fight bloody and bone-tired, and accepts the invite to a bed and a check-up from Doc Mitchell. They find out later that none of the blood is his, though he did sprain a wrist and bruise his ribs. At that point ED-E is in sleep mode on the floor of the living room, waiting next to the couch for Aaron to join him in unconsciousness. He bids goodnight to his second favorite doctor and thanks him for his hospitality a second time, getting a chuckle and a "Well then I should thank you for saving us a second time huh, kiddo?"

Aaron finds it easier to sleep with ED-E's humming servos next to his ear and another sleeping body in the next room.

*****

When they find the satellite it's about 4 in the afternoon and Aaron is exhausted. They're on day 11, having been delayed yet again because the Outpost needed some help training their new recruits and Aaron just happened to show up when they started the punching bits, saved another four hostages from Giant Fire ants, almost turned to Swiss cheese when he walked directly into a Jackel's nest after ignoring ED-E's blip of warning when he senses something on his radar, and finally, gets jumped by the scant Legion mutts still inhabiting Nipton even after the town had been cleared of people and left to rot. He crashes in one of the trailers on the outskirts of the former town, setting ED-E on high alert and telling him to let out the loudest noise he's able to if he sees anything.

At about midnight ED-E's up and making the strangest noises. If Aaron didn't know any better he'd say the bot was confused.  ED-E turns to him when the eyebot notices he's woken his human companion up with another long beep of what Aaron can only identify as curiosity before trailing out and to the left of their makeshift camp.

Aaron is aware enough to realize that something important is going on and shakes himself awake to pack up in less than 45 seconds, slipping back into his lightweight plate armor, his displacer glove locking into place on his wrist and his 10 mm at his waist. Aaron slings their pack over his shoulder and follows warily after ED-E, following the beeps and the bright blue pulsating light it seems caught the bot's attention.

ED-E lets out one single alarmed beep before halting near what can only be the crashed satellite. Aaron freezes just behind him, drops the bag with a sandy 'plop,' his jaw falling simultaneously. He looks at ED-E in shock and he thinks if the eyebot could talk he'd be saying "I know, right?!"

Aaron carefully approaches, dragging the bag behind him, aware that it carries the equipment he'll need to analyze just what this is for, why it's crashed, and what exactly is that eye it's projecting onto the huge drive-in screen it landed in front of.

As he gets closer, Aaron notices some solar panels on the structure flap uselessly, and what appears to be the bottom of the thing twitches under the weight of the panels. Aaron's fascinated and terrified at the same time. What if it belongs to the Enclave? What if that's why ED-E is acting so strange? What if they find out that it's crashed here and they decide to investigate? What if Arcade was right about ED-E and he turns on them with the press of a button? What if they find Arcade?

Aaron tries desperately to derail his train of thought because thinking about ED-E turning on him and Arcade being taken away makes a cold weight settle heavily in his stomach and he feels like he should throw up.

ED-E seems to notice this and starts to inch closer to him, a comforting hum emanating from his speakers. But before he can get too close Aaron flinches back into the satellite, holding the bag up between them, his back hitting the side of the hunk of metal. He knows his response is unwarranted because he knows better than anyone that ED-E is and always will be his friend, but his mind hasn't caught up to the rest of him.

"I'm sorry buddy," He starts when the eyebot lets out a despairing beep, "If you could just stay there for a sec, I'll-"

Aaron doesn't get to finish his sentence. A round bubble of energy circles him, lifting he and the bag off the ground to completely encase him. He shoots out a panicked hand towards ED-E but his wrist is jerked awkwardly to the side with a spark. Unable to reach for help he yells for ED-E to shoot it but the eyebot won't listen, is too busy frantically headbutting the bubble.

The bubble becomes more dense, more opaque and Aaron is internally screaming, begging for a way out. All he does is tell ED-E calmly, "Go back to the 38, ED-E. Tell the group what happened..." he pauses, the hysteria reaching a peak between them, ED-E now shooting the energy ball uselessly, Aaron biting his lip and letting the waves of chaos hit him. "Tell Arcade-."

But he doesn't get the chance to say what he needs Arcade to know, that he understands why he doesn't trust ED-E and that he would never let it come to that because Arcade would come first. He's surprised to realize that, but not as surprised to notice that he was right in what he said as much as Arcade. That as much as they both know ED-E could be swayed to their enemies side he won't. He won't because as much as Arcade doesn't trust him, and much as Veronica insists he is just an emotionless robot, they don't hear the heart-wrenching noise he releases when Aaron's bubble blots him from view. They can't see the bot's desperate attempt to free the courier from the confines of the shield. They don't know that when the bubble disappears with his friend inside of it that he cries. He cries in the only way that robots can; he drips motor oil into the sand, low shuddering motions rocking him back and forth just inches above where Aaron disappeared, releasing a string of beeps so sad even Caesar would weep.

They don't know, but Aaron does. And he wishes he wasn't forced to find out that ED-E does have a heart inside those servos. Wishes he could have found evidence in ED-E's code. Wishes neither of them had to find out like this.


End file.
